Bailey, et al., J. Polymer Science: Polymer Chemistry Edition, Vol. 20, 3021-3030 (1982), disclose the free radical ring-opening polymerization of 2-methylene-1,3-dioxepane to form poly-.epsilon.-caprolactone. Under the same conditions, 2-methylene-1,3-dioxolane and 2-methylene-1,3-dioxane generated polymers with mixed ring-opened and non-ring-opened structures. Copolymerization of the dioxepane with vinyl monomers (styrene, 4-vinylanisole, methyl methacrylate or vinyl acetate) in a 1:1 molar ratio gave copolymers which contained less than 50 mol % dioxepane.
Bailey, et al., Makromol. Chem., Vol. 183, 1913-1920 (1982), disclose the free radical ring-opening polymerization of 2-methylene-4-phenyl-1,3-dioxolane to produce poly[.gamma.(.beta.-phenyl)butyrolactone]. Copolymerization of this dioxolane with vinyl monomers (styrene, methyl methacrylate, vinylacetate or 4-vinylpyridine) in a 1:1 molar ratio gave copolymers which contained less than 41 mol % dioxolane.
Bailey, et al., Macromolecules, Vol. 15, 711-714 (1982), disclose the free radical polymerization of cis- and trans-4,7-dimethyl-2-methylene-1,3-dioxepane and 5,6-benzo-2-methylene-1,3-dioxepane to produce the corresponding polyesters. The cis-/transmonomer copolymerizes with 1:1 mixtures of styrene or methyl methacrylate to give copolymers which contain less than 30 mol % dioxepane. The benzo-dioxepane copolymerizes with stryrene, 4-vinylanisole or methyl methacrylate to give copolymers which contain less than 33 mol % dioxepane.
Bailey et al., J. Macromol. Sci. Chem., A21(8 and 9), 979-995 (1984), disclose the hydrolysis of a copolymer of 2-methylene-1,3-dioxepane and styrene (r.sub.1 =0.021 and r.sub.2 =22.6) to give an oligomer terminated with a hydroxyl group and a carboxylic acid group. Similarly, hydrolysis of an ethylente/2-methylene-1,3-dioxepane copolymer gave a series of ethylene oligomers with 9 to 47 ethylene units which were terminated with a hydroxyl group and a carboxylic acid group. The copolymerization of the dioxepane with vinyl chloride is also disclosed.
The polymers of the present invention can be distinguished from those of the prior art by the alternating structure of the fluoro-olefin/cyclic ketene acetal copolymer. Further, the copolymers of the present invention permit a one step reduction process for the formation of highly fluorinated diols. Conventional syntheses for the fluorinated diols require a tedious multiple step process.